By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
The Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) has proposed the construction of a US$210 million facility in Clark, Pampanga, to generate renewable energy out of collected garbage and waste.
Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) (MCWMC Website / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Our waste-to-energy facilities will bring our waste to the next level and will help ensure that our company will be ready to accommodate the projected volume of waste to be generated by cities and municipalities in the Central and Northern Luzon regions,” said MCWMC president Rufo Colayco.
At present, the Clark Integrated Facility operated by MCWMC collects close to 3,000 tons of garbage per day from about 100 local government units, mostly in Central Luzon. It started its operation on December 2002.
MCWMC founder Holger Holst said the Clark Integrated Facility, including the dumpsites in Navotas and Montalban, have the capacity to hold 30 to 40 million tons of garbage.
But at the moment, there is no waste facility that can accommodate the increasing volume of garbage for the next 10 years, he said.
He pointed out that the Philippines does not have a 600-hectare land that can accommodate 100 million tons of garbage in the future.
“Population growth is faster than all possible efforts to reduce waste. We can only slow down the increase in the generation of waste,” he said.
The solid waste management facility in Clark is now looking into transitioning from merely landfilling to high technology recycling and renewable energy generation.
This would be achieved by developing an advance centralized recycling facility at the waste management center where materials will be segregated for recycling and processing into secondary fuel, Holst said.
The secondary fuel will then be used as the primary feeds stock for a secondary fuel, which can generate up to 35 megawatts of electrical renewable energy for the New Clark City.
Holst said the results will reduce the amount of residual waste disposed at the landfill by 70 percent, extending the lifespan of the solid waste management system for at least 50 years.
It will also reduce the emission of leachate and gas by virtually eliminating the disposal of organic waste in the landfill.
Colayco said the MCWCM is transforming waste to usable energy and generating auspicious possibilities for the generations to come as it could guarantee a secured and sustainable waste management solution for Central Luzon for more than 30 years to come.
MCWMC is hoping to establish the waste-to-energy facilities by next year as it awaits the go-ahead signal from the Bases Conversion and Development Corporation (BCDA).
BCDA is the agency in charge of approving the project between MCWMC and its subsidiary firm Clark Development Corporation.